


Athos' token of Love

by OneofakindNotebooks



Category: Les Trois Mousquetaires | The Three Musketeers Series - Alexandre Dumas, The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29179689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneofakindNotebooks/pseuds/OneofakindNotebooks
Summary: The head of the Musketeers, M. de Tréville is dead and leaves behind his precious yet determined daughter, Léora de Tréville.Will she be able to take her father's place amongst the famous musketeers, whom her father trusted with his life, or will she be forced to abandon her honour?Milady de Winter is finally dead but she still haunts Athos, who does not seem to fight her away."Remember, head over heart". Athos had once said this to D'Artagnan but what if his own head and his own heart came together? Would he be able to conquer his fears and doubts?
Relationships: Ana de Austria | Anne d'Autriche/Louis XIII de France, Athos | Comte de la Fère/Original Female Character(s), d'Artagnan/Constance Bonacieux
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**_Athos’ prologue:_ **

A figure entered the throne room in long and graceful strides. A slender figure it was. It approached the king and queen, its hat lowered and its sword gently swaying against its hip, boots resonating throughout the majestic throne room.

The king had asked the guards to let the stranger pass through the palace walls without being introduced which piqued the interest of our musketeer. He watched as the court began to murmur and gossip, his eyebrows slowly knitted together and eyed the person with suspicion as it bowed ceremoniously.

“Rise. Thank you for coming as soon as possible” started the king as the queen smiled tenderly. Louis marked a pause before continuing “Mlle. De Trévillle”.

A cry of shock raised from the court as the apparent woman raised and harmoniously took her hat off in a swift motion and bowed yet again. A pang of pain caught in his chest as he recognised the same look of his dear friend. The sternness of her voice and the familiar glow of her eyes made him blink a few times. The resemblance was troubling and making him uneasy. He looked at the king and the queen and held back his apparent surprise.

“It was an opportunity to honour my father, your highness, that I have come” answered the young lady for she did not seem to pass her mid-twenties, thought Athos to himself as he crossed his arms.

The queen smiled and beckoned her forward. “Mlle. De Trévillle, I am looking forward to becoming your closest friend”, she gingerly squealed by taking her hands in hers.

“Your Majesty, It would be an honour” she replied with a gentle inclination of her head, she then took a few steps backwards and bowed to them both.

“I will let you settle in your quarters and you will have time to meet my musketeers”, informed Louis by giving her the key to her father’s quarters.

As she approached him, he whispered to her that nothing had been touched, at this, she smiled thankfully to them both and bowed. She was dismissed under another wave of murmur and gossip. Athos rolled his eyes over their annoyance and caught glimpses of their conversations, such as:

“Oh my, dressing as a man, quel scandale!”.

“Show off! I bet she doesn’t even know how to use a sword. I wonder why it does not bother the king and queen?”

The worst that Athos heard was from a man who was accompanied by three women who were snortingly laughing at his remarks:

“Doesn’t she have a mother? What was M. de Trévillle thinking to achieve by sending his daughter to replace him?”

Athos sent him one of his deadly looks and this sent them scattering away like mice. He watched her walk out, hat firmly placed on her head, sword elegantly dangling from her side, she did not give one look to her gossipers nor him.

Throughout the whole day, Athos took swigs of wine from his gourd, attached to his hip, keeping himself from taking a glance at his locket. He made himself particularly discreet and his three loyal friends knew better than to disturb his moody state. Night came and he called for a whole cart of wine to be sent up to his lodging where he drank and drank. He drank to forget, and he drank to remember. He stumbled to his bed and tried to stand still in vain before heavily sighing and falling face down onto his bed. Passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our loyal Athos seems troubled by the young lady whom he has recognised to be the daughter of his dear friend Tréville, her resemblance makes him uneasy.  
> Milady's presence is even stronger on him than ever, giving him the sensation of drowning in grief and despair, every moment of his life is controlled by her ghost. His hand never leaves his gourd and his friends are worried about him.
> 
> Will Athos ever know tranquillity and peace? Will he ever accept the fact that Léora de Tréville will take her father's place among the Musketeers? Will he learn to trust again?

_**The next day:** _

_The sound of faint laughter made its way to his ears. A familiar one. He saw the flash of an axe and the sound of hooves as he galloped away, far away, from the invisible, yet strong, string that she had attached to his heart and soul. Countless times had he tried to cut the string which bonded him to her, no matter how many times he tried, it was useless._

He sharply inhaled as he woke up, pain coursing through his body, because of the position which he had sleep in, he managed to roll out of bed, sweat still clinging to his shirt, the steel chain of his locket burning his skin. Pouring cold water onto his head and running his hands through his naturally waved hair which elegantly fell over his shoulders, he closed his eyes and reflected on what happened yesterday.

“What would Trévillle do in a situation like this? Would he accept his daughter to take his place?”, whispered Athos to himself, a million questions floating in his head as he heavily sighed without reaching a conclusion. He processed to dress in silence.

……..

Walking through the streets of Paris, he came upon Aramis who was courting one of his women. Athos smiled to himself and joined D’Artagnan and Porthos, who was having breakfast and who were also enjoying the scene. They both dramatically winced as Aramis came towards them bearing the mark of a hand which had flown out of anger.

Athos chuckled softly, his vision suddenly blurred and he closed his eyes for a brief second before pouring wine into his gourd. After eating a piece of bread and cheese, he adjusted his hat and sword before announcing that he would be waiting for them at the palace, his friends nodded at him and looked at each other in comprehension, they watched him disappear amongst the growing morning crowd:

“Athos… Athos ”, tsked Aramis by shaking his head thoughtfully.

“I bet he drank a cart full of wine all by himself yesterday”, added Porthos.

“I bet it too judging by the number of swigs he took from his gourd…I wonder what happened in the throne room?”, pointed out D’ Artagnan.

///

A few minutes later, Aramis, Porthos and D'Artagnan made their way around the palace in silence still thinking about Athos, they saw a figure walking towards them from the hall.

“Gentlemen…”, saluted Mlle. De Trévillle by raising her head and nodding at them, she passed near them without stopping and continued on her way, the sigil of de Tréville’s on her leather tunic.

Our musketeers' eyes widened as they registered that it was, in fact, a young woman, they let a few seconds pass, coating their apparent confusion while Porthos looked in the direction in which the young lady had disappeared:

"What?", bewilderedly asked Porthos to the two men.

"Don't be daft, Porthos, it was clearly a woman", replied Aramis as he automatically smoothed his moustache.

"Why, Aramis, thank you for noticing", jokingly commented D'Artagnan before ducking the head slap of Aramis who had blushed, sending Porthos roaring out of laughter.

"I've never seen a woman in full armour before", confessed Porthos.

"Wait, she was wearing de Tréville's sigil. Do you think she.. she's his...?", he continued more seriously.

"daughter", they realised in unison, their heads bowed in respect.

"We need to find Athos and ask him if he knows anything, Tréville never mentioned his family. I wonder why she's here, maybe she needs help?", said D' Artagnan as they continued on their way, determined. 

........

Athos did not dare enter the old officer’s quarters, he also tried to avoid _her_ at all costs, she reminded him too much of his good friend, and he was not good with forgetting memories. The half-empty gourd attached to his hip confirmed this. It was indeed an awkward situation.

He nearly stumbled upon her while passing by, the smell of her hair caught him off guard and he automatically touched his chest to grab his locket, but it was underneath his armour. What was happening to him, he cursed himself inwardly and respectfully saluted her:

"Mademoiselle de Tréville...", he prepared himself to walk away but she stopped him by lightly touching his arm, Athos' eyes slightly widened but he fought the urge to move away from her.

“Apologies, _Monsieur”,_ the lady said by looking up at him and smiling sincerely, her eyes glowing, “I would like to have a word with you if you please”, she mentioned this by turning on her heels and without a word, started walking towards her headquarters.

“Decidedly, she does not give me a choice…”, murmured Athos to himself as he followed her at a respectable distance, his glanced at the way she stopped and talked with a few servants passing by, "remember, head over heart", he repeated to himself as he touched his doublet, the locket gently swaying between his ribs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome once again!
> 
> I would like to thank Musketball1 for commenting and encouraging me to continue more confidently "Athos' token of love" :)  
> I do not own The Three Musketeers book series nor The Musketeers 2014 series.
> 
> I will try and update as soon as I can :)
> 
> Thank you and enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The musketeers finally meet Léora de Tréville while Athos still does not feel comfortable about her, he just cannot seem to let go of the past. Join Athos as he fights against the ghost of Milady and finally starts to consider that his way of life is toxic and dangerous for his heart and soul.
> 
> Would the rest of the musketeers accept Léora as their captain? Would Athos be able to control his emotions?
> 
> Read along and enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the third chapter of Athos' token of love:)
> 
> Thank you and enjoy!

As he entered, he saw his three friends already standing in attention in front of the desk, their countenance slightly relaxed when they saw him. He peered around and startled when he realised that she was waiting for him to stand by his friends so she could close the door herself, she closed the door and marched to her desk. Taking off her hat and leather black gloves, she sat on her chair and proceeded to look through some papers while tapping her left index on the table. She did this in silence for a couple of moments making the musketeers nervous.

Finally, satisfied with her research, she got up and stood in from of them one by one by saying their names:

“Porthos…Aramis…D’Artagnan…and Athos …”, as she said their names, they respectfully nodded at her in acknowledgement.

Her hands clasped behind her back as she faced them, her jaw set, and presented herself loud and clear:

“My name is Léora de Trévillle and I will be your commander from now on. I know you were my father’s favourites and that he loved you all very dearly”.

Athos saw her eyes water, but she quickly concealed them by going back to her desk and distributed them a letter each with their names written on them in very fine handwriting. Léora let them digest before preparing her speech to come, she saw them one by one take looks at her questioningly. Aramis was the first to ask:

“Pardon me Mlle. De Trévillle… I know you want to honour your father and I’m sure that he is proud, but do you think it is wise to-“, he hesitated, and his voice eventually died as the expression on Léora’s face changed. Aramis was not used to situations like this, it was clear from his face.

“What you are implying, messieurs is that I should pack my bags because I do not know what I’m up against”, she addressed by raising her voice a notch, getting a little amused smile from Porthos mocking the wince from Aramis’ face and a slight intake from D’Artagnan. Only Athos listened, his eyes mildly widened by her unexpected attitude. She did not wait to admire the look from their faces and continued without delay:

“I am fully aware of what you all are thinking but I’m sure I can manage; I will have my chance to prove it to you. I only ask that you believe me”, Léora finished her phrase by looking at Athos, who taken aback, uncomfortably fidgeted.

“Fairly spoken”, murmured Porthos to himself as he eyed Athos.

A whole minute of silence passed as the three friends were holding their breaths when Athos’ voice rose. He only said one syllable:

“Deal”.

Aramis, Porthos and D’ Artagnan ran their eyes from Léora de Trévillle to Athos in surprise. 

“Deal”, Léora’s face softened as she replied to them all, her happiness setting a strange feeling in his bones, he watched her with new eyes as she sat on her desk and announced that the letters were written by her father and that he had told her, a long time ago, that she had to be the one to personally give them. They lowered their heads in respect to her words which touched the hearts of these just musketeers.

“Forgive me but I still have a lot of paperwork left “, this said she walked up to the door, her golden-brown locks styled in a French twist.

“If you need anything you know where to find me, if not please leave a note on my desk I will see to it as soon as I can. Gentlemen…”, said Léora as a means of goodbye.

“Mademoiselle de Trévillle …”, they saluted as she nodded them out one by one.

…….

Walking to D’ Artagnan lodgings, which he shared with Constance, the friends started talking about the events of their day, the conversation drifted to the daughter of Trévillle:

“She is not yet married”, slyly remarked Aramis.

“Oh, dear Aramis, will you hang it! reflected Porthos as cocky as ever.

“She seems determined enough”, analysed D’ Artagnan, “she has her father’s sternness and duty-wise loyalty. If we get to know her I am sure she will make a good captain", he continued as Aramis and Porthos nodded in approval.

A silence sewed itself into the air and its thread was broken by a knock on the door, a cart of wine was delivered, and Constance entered:

“I heard the daughter of Trévillle has taken her place as commander. I haven't met her yet but I'm sure she will fit in perfectly, remembering Tréville ”, she reflected by sitting close to D’ Artagnan.

Only Athos kept silent, his cup never empty:

“I think she is too determined to prove a point. I understand her to need to honour her father, but this is not the way for a young lady, especially in her situation. I hope she resigns before we have a mission and she summons chaos”, he shamelessly commented, his voice had started to get slurry while getting up to pour some more wine.

Constance was faster and grabbed the bottle before he reached it:

“I hope you did not mean that”, she boldly said while hiding the bottle behind her back, “I understand that you don’t trust women, but this is not the way. You need to let go of the past Athos, you cannot judge someone just be meeting them for the first time”, she continued by disappointedly stomping out of the room followed by D’Artagnan.

Aramis and Porthos furtively looked at each other, finished their wine in silence and prepared to leave. Porthos was too troubled to talk and Aramis seemed to open his mouth to say something to Athos, whose head lulled to the side to look at him, but he softly exhaled through his nose and left. They left him knowing all too well the reasons for this sudden outburst.

///

Night and wine seemed to be the perfect combination of pain and memories; Athos dangerously hung to both of these for survival. The locket bound to his neck swayed as he paced around his room, flashes of Milady and their old love made him jug his wine faster than he should. Love? Love was treason and pain, and he had a full dose of them. 

His mind wandered to Léora. Léora and her deep piercing ice-blue eyes… The scent of her hair... Constance had scolded him about only seeing her outside... Foolishness he had no time to find out about Léora. What would Tréville do? His mind swam in an uncontrollable stream, not able to find solutions he moaned and threw the bottle on the wall as he stumbled onto his bed, head spinning and wine dripping from his chin.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Join Léora as she reveals her past to us and goes through what happened since she arrived at the palace. The entrance of Cardinal Richelieu and the count of Rochefort will be made in this chapter, read along as Léora meets these two particular characters.
> 
> Will Léora be able to stand against these two? Would she be able to count on her father's loyal musketeers and would Athos finally decide to change his ways?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Apologies for updating late, I'm doing my best to juggle between University and fanfictions :)
> 
> Read along and enjoy!

Léora’s prologue:

The musketeers dismissed, Léora let herself fall onto her chair, her mind drifting off to the moment she received the letter on that fateful night six years ago. Her locket, containing her mother’s hair, felt hot against her skin as she touched her chest soothing herself from the urge to cry. 

The letter was torn to pieces and burnt as tears poured down her face, she couldn’t breathe, she needed air. Wearing only her white nightgown she ran to the barn and bare-footed, in the warm autumn night, she saddled Jeanne and rod off towards the hills, her maid desperately imploring her to come back. Her anger and sadness turned to pure rage as she leapt off Jeanne and ran with all her might to the top of the hill where she howled with pain. She had returned home hours later, the sun peeking through the hills, and her maid had put her bed without a word of reproach and simply kept an eye over her as she slept and herself prayed.

The flashbacked ended as it came. The next day, she had asked to take her father’s place, the king knew of her and had discreetly helped her in any means possible, more out of pity she guessed but it didn’t matter anymore she was here now. She knew the court disapproved of her presence here, but she would stand her ground and fight. Her father had taught her well in manners as well as life, after her mother had died, Trévillle had taught her everything she had to know about swordsmanship and more. After she had read the letter, she understood that her father was preparing her for this moment all along.

///

When she had first arrived at Paris, she had found a suitable place at rue Tiquetonne, she had washed up and dressed as a cavalier had entered the palace determined and quite anxious to see for her own eyes her father’s office. She had expected the disappointment of the court and was mentally prepared when she made her way to the king and queen.

The strong scent of leather and the mild scent of wine reached her nostrils as her eyes furtively looked to her right, the feather of her hat concealing her face. The scents entwined enough to make her slightly dizzy, but she instead held her ground. Léora could feel his eyes on her, they were not evil or mischievous. No. They were simply curious and prudent. Finally, the keys of her father’s headquarters between her fingers, she had risen and bowed before preparing herself to face the narrow-minded crowd, she had let the unkind comments and remarks wash over her body.

She knew that he was slowly and progressively making his way towards the entrance of the throne room and had caught him giving a warning look to a man, which she had wanted to give a taste of her fists. Léora could not help but give a little smile as he watched her leave, his dark brown chestnut eyes narrowed.

…..

The scent of her father was in every corner of the room, the king was right, nothing had been touched and she was grateful for that as she let her tears pour down her face. She closed the door behind her, placed the key on the desk and looked over some papers that were lying on it. 

A letter was on her father’s wooden coin box. She hesitantly opened it. It bore her name. She read it quite quickly fore it was brief. After reading the letter, she heavily sighed and made her way to the cardinal’s quarters, she was walking down the hall when three familiar musketeer silhouettes and uniforms made their way towards her. She immediately recognised them as they approached.  
She recognised Aramis with his finely traced moustache; Porthos by his particular doublet and height and finally D’Artagnan because her father had told her how he had joined the musketeers. She hid her admiration of the trio and simply saluted them before walking on her way.

……

The cardinal Richelieu’s quarters was guarded by Rochefort. A memory of her father unfolded itself in her head as she saw the man's mutilated face.

"Ma chérie, whatever you do, try not to cross paths with the count of Rochefort, he is the loyal servant of the cardinal, a pion in Richlieu’s game. However, if you do cross paths with him be vigilant and keep your hand close to your dagger as I taught you…"

She had simply nodded and hugged her father then but now she understood what he meant. This fellow had a cunning and sly countenance and his only presence by the entrance made her uneasy, yet she had to go see the cardinal. She stood straight and walked towards him, he had his hands clasped behind his back and she saw his eyebrows slightly rise as he extended his hand.  
Léora did not utter a word but simply gave him the letter without touching his leather gloves. The latter kept on taking glances from the piece of paper to her and after a few seconds, he opened the door, dramatically bowed by taking off his hat and admitted her inside the abode.

The minute she entered the spacious room, she noticed the sudden change of air, the atmosphere was dark and dull and although it was not yet evening, the long and thick burgundy curtains shut off the sun shyly starting to fall. She fought hard to contain her laughter when her eyes caught the grotesque portrait of Richelieu, hanging above the fireplace.

\- “What a narcist…”, she muttered to herself as she approached the desk where Richelieu was counting his coins and crossing off some names on a long parchment of paper.

Upon seeing her, he suddenly stopped what he was doing and leaned back on his chair, Léora took off her hat and proceeded to bow.

\- “Your Eminence…”, she said before realising that he had in fact been looking behind her. 

A shiver ran down her spine when she realised that Rochefort was in fact a few paces behind her, thankfully the cardinal dismissed him with a flick of his hand and like an automat, he disappeared without a sound.

\- “Tréville’s only child”, was the way he saluted her, “What a difficult decision to make, I hope it is not so hard for you, my dear?”, he said by leaning forward and placing his hands on the table.

\- “It is my first day here, your Eminence, but I’m sure that I can manage. Is there anything you wanted to ask?”, replied Léora by changing the subject to the reason for her visit here.

\- “Oh, nothing special, mademoiselle, I just wanted to see if you had the same loyalty as your father. Tell me, my dear Mlle. De Tréville, do you love your king?”, this question sent Léora’s mind to action as she remembered the description of her father towards the cardinal, thus, she knew all his questions would eventually revolve around him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to my first fanfiction:)
> 
> I have written stories and fanfictions, of a few pages, on certain books, movies and pieces of music but this is the first time that I am writing online. I am not nearly perfect but I will do my best, everyone's work should be recognised and respected even though it's not flawless:) I hesitated a lot but everything needs a beginning!  
> I do not own The Three Musketeers book series as well as the 2014 series.
> 
> I will try and update as soon as I can, dealing with University in these times is a nightmare.
> 
> Thank you and enjoy!


End file.
